Utah police lieutenant demoted over arrest of nurse over blood draw

Reuters Staff

3 Min Read

(Reuters) - A Utah police lieutenant who ordered a detective to arrest a nurse after she refused to let the detective take a blood sample from an unconscious patient without a warrant was demoted on Wednesday, according to a police spokesman and police records.

FILE PHOTO: Nurse Alex Wubbels is shown during an incident at University of Utah Hospital in this still photo taken from police bodycam video taken in Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S. on July 26, 2017. Courtesy Salt Lake City Police Department/Handout via REUTERS

James Tracy, a lieutenant who was the watch commander at the time of the July 26 incident, was demoted to officer. A lawyer for Tracy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Detective Jeff Payne, accused of assaulting and unlawfully arresting the nurse, was fired from the force on Tuesday, according to Salt Lake City police spokesman Detective Robert Ungricht and police records.

“We are disappointed with the decision and will be filing an appeal this week. We acknowledge the wrongful conduct but believe termination is not the proper remedy,” Payne’s attorney, Greg Skordas, said in an email.

“I am deeply troubled by your lack of sound professional judgment and your discourteous, disrespectful, and unwarranted behavior, which unnecessarily escalated a situation that could and should have been resolved in a manner far different from the course of action you chose to pursue,” Brown said in a memorandum to Payne.

FILE PHOTO: Nurse Alex Wubbels is shown during an incident at University of Utah Hospital in this still photo taken from police bodycam video taken in Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S. on July 26, 2017. Courtesy Salt Lake City Police Department/Handout via REUTERS

Brown said Tracy showed a lack of judgment and leadership.

Ungricht declined to comment further, citing pending expected civil litigation from the men and open investigations by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and district attorney.

Body camera footage of Payne taking nurse Alexandra Wubbels into custody made headlines. The footage shows Payne roughly handcuffing Wubbels and shoving her into an unmarked squad car after she refused to let him draw blood from an unconscious man, who had been badly injured when he crashed at the end of a police chase.